Since July 2013, the EU and the USA have been negotiating on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership (TTIP). These negotiations are to determine which goods and services TTIP will apply to. These negotiations are in secret. MEPS, and MPs are not allowed to see the documentation. As tariffs between the EU and the US are low anyway, the main focus is on increasing trade through the harmonisation of standards as this will supposedly stimulate the economy.. What this actually means could well be a lowering of environmental standards and standards regarding hazardous chemicals and food safety, and labour rights, to the detriment of the majority of the population. TTIP also includes usage of the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). This allows corporations to sue Governments if a government passes a law which could infringe on the profit that that corporation expects to make. In the past, with other Trade agreements, the ISDS has been used to overturn democratic decisions by all levels of governments at significant public cost. ISDS provides for the usage of secret private arbitration tribunals which are held in secret, and there is no possibility of appeal against decisions. One case where a government has been dragged before an ISDS tribunal as a result of a decision by a local authority has already happened: In 1997, the US waste management company Metalclad sued the Mexican government as the municipality of Guadalcazar , in San Luis Potosi State , had rejected their application to run a hazardous waste depot. In spite of San Luis Potosi declaring the area a nature reserve, Metaclad sued Mexico , who had to pay a fine of $15.6 millions. This was possible under the Investor State dispute settlement, part of NAFTA, and also in TTIP.* Fines have been up to billions of dollars and the cost of an ISDS case averages $ 8,000,000. If governments start passing laws and making decisions out of fear of being sued by corporations then this will have a devastating effect on democracy, especially in times of austerity. Sourcing of supplies and employment by local governments is badly needed to local economies and TTIP could prevent this happening. Although local authorities would be bound by whatever will be in the final TTIP treaty, there has been no impact assessment of the effects of TTIP on local authorities, neither has there been any consultation of local governments or organisations representing local governments. They have not been allowed to scrutinise negotiation documents. What is especially important for local authorities is that under TTIP procurements for goods and services would have to be tendered across the entire EU and US area. Very likely is that the winners would be multi-national corporations. Local firms simply would not get a look-in and money otherwise supporting the local ecnomy and providing local jobs would go elsewhere. And besides, under the ISDS clause in TTIP any attempt by a local authority to reverse this could result in the UK being sued before a secret ISDS tribunal. This has already happened I other countries (see Metaclad suing Mexico because Guadalcazar council turned down a hazardous waste dump). We would like Barnet to join the hundreds of local authorities across Europe have declared themselves TTIP-free zones including over 26 local authorities in the UK including Conservative-run North Somerset,, 64 in Spain 450 in France and 300 in Germany, including Barnet's twin town Siegen-Wittgenstein.

The present system is grossly unfair. Everybody benefits from Local Government expenditure but only a few have to pay, and then regardless of their income. Many of the poor subsidise many of the rich. Sharing a home should not exempt any of the occupants from assessment/payment.

The 1987 Act legally prevents thousands of UK Veterans from proper compensation............This must change and soon! You are urged to comply with the Prime Minister's vow to review this unfair payment rule (PM Question Time: 04 Nov 2015). For example: Fred Minall aged 74 joined up at age 15 and served 8 years in the Royal Navy as a mechanical engineer. He was heavily exposed to asbestos whilst working from the age of 16 years in engine and boiler rooms and machinery spaces or compartments on 4 of Her Majesty's Warships at home and abroad. Prior to his diagnosis he was a fit 74 year old man who enjoyed travel, caravanning and sport. At this date he is extremely fatigued, has no interest and is unable to partake in any exercise, e.g. 4 months ago he could swim 40 lengths of a swimming pool, now cannot swim at all because of exhaustion. He has been reduced 'overnight' to a feeble unwell man and has just started 18 weeks of chemotherapy which may or may not be effective. Fred is just one of an estimated 2,500 people who have or are likely to be effected by this fatal disease following exposure to this lethal asbestos. You will agree that all service personnel deserve to be recognised for their commitment to the country and should receive the same level of compensation as all civilians and all other Armed Forces service personnel after 1987. You may agree, that the MOD was negligent having the knowledge that this mineral substance was highly dangerous by allowing their personnel to work in a dangerous environment without warning of its dangers, without protective clothing or protection to their airways. Now they must suffer the consequences for their innocence.

In April of 2016 the government, on recommendation by The Centre for Research in Social Policy, intend to raise the National Living Wage to £7.20 p/h with the objective of increasing it to £9.00 p/h by 2020. As a worker earning a similar amount to the 2020 target I feel from both personal experience and by listening to the struggles faced by fellow workers that the term is a misnomer and would be much more accurately described as the 'Subsistence Wage'. Definition; The lowest wage a worker and their family can survive on.

To plead to the Council to open its empty buildings to the homeless this winter. We have a night shelter for 25 people run by volunteers but due to health and saftey many vulnerable people are not allowed to access the service. It is communal sleeping in a hall , usually with no showers .The HIVE DALSTON showcases what our community can do when we work together . Open your empty buildings and our homeless can have privacy to sleep , a proper bed at night , support to move forward and be inclusive . Please can we have an empty building so we can help turn peoples lives around and look after each other. Thankyou

Last night, the full 6000 page TPPA treaty was released online for the general public. The trans-pacific partnership is a trade agreement signed by 12 Pacific Rim countries, and it is very much their version of TTIP, our agreement between the US and Europe. Although the deals text has been 'agreed to', it is still under scrutiny and has not been signed. In the wake of its release, I demand that TTIP's full text also be released. Whatever bargaining power and 'holding our cards close' techniques the negotiators were using, is now irrelevant. In the name of transparency and democracy, this document should be available for us all to see. Its a shame we have to make this demand in the first place. This document should have been public from the moment it began being negotiated. But now that TPPA is in public domain, TTIP should also be published. We demand that you publish the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in its entirety, available for translation and with no chapters censored. Thanks very much. Lydia.

They are there to represent the people who voted them in, if they are asleep in Parliament they are not fulfilling their duty or role. This should warrant instant dismissal. There seems to be an absence of monitoring of MP s behaviour after being voted in. I suggest the public expect them to face the same expectations as anybody else in the workforce. Our MPs represent our views as the people who voted them in, we the people don't want to see them sleeping on the job, it is an insult to us the people. How dare they show such disregard for their position and the things that matter in our life's. Some of us can't sleep thanks to the decisions those in power have made, if some had been awake or even present perhaps there would of been some genuine representation. !!

The new UK passport design supposedly celebrates the British 'cultural pantheon' but in 16 pages features only 2 women, despite finding plenty of space for men, as well as everyday objects such as the postage stamp and telephone box. British history contains countless inspirational women such as Jane Austen, Emmeline Pankhurst, Charlotte Bronte, Barbara Hepworth, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Laura Ashley, Boudicca, Queen Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Fry, Florence Nightingale, Mary Wollstonecraft, Marie Stopes, Agatha Christie , Beatrix Potter, Maggie Smith and Amy Winehouse - and many, many more besides! It is wrong that in 2015 men and women do not have equal representation on this important document - a document that will be in the hands of every man, woman and child for years to come. We are constantly hearing about how we must encourage women and girls to become engineers, doctors, company directors and much much more, but this sends the message to our women and girls that their contribution to society does not count. Is the contribution of inspirational women such as Emmeline Pankhurst or Jane Austen really not as important or interesting as a postage stamp or telephone box?

Because all workers in the UK deserve the same workers rights! Prison Officers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland do no currently have the right to take strike action over legitimate disputes! The Scottish government have this week given back Scottish Prison Officers the right to take strike action, the same must be afforded to colleagues in the rest of the U.K.!

The conflict in Syria has resulted in the greatest humanitarian crisis in a generation. It has led to millions of displaced people living outside the borders of the country, including appallingly high numbers of children. The figures are truly shocking: More than 4,000,000 refugees from Syria (95% of the total) are in just five countries: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt (Amnesty International September 2015). This influx is having a devastating impact on these countries (UNHCR 2013). Around 220,000 people have been killed and 12.8 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria. More than 50% of Syria’s population is currently displaced. In total, 104,410 resettlement places have been offered globally since the start of the Syria crisis, which equates to a mere 2.6% of the total population of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey (Amnesty 2015). 1,168,996 children were living as refugees outside Syria in 2013, the figure is likely to be far higher now. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has said: “Syria has become the great tragedy of this century – a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history.” When history looks back on what we did to assuage this terrible crisis, let's show Britain as a compassionate nation that doesn't sit back and watch a tragedy unfold, but one that holds out its arms and shares its resources with the Syrian people.

Having a job and earning a decent wage is a necessity if we as a society are going to address some of the biggest concerns facing our generation. Poverty has a devastating effect on families across Scotland and in-work poverty has no place in the 21st century. There is no excuse for low-pay, when time and time again it has been shown to be not only an ineffective means of employment, but also a hindrance on long-term sustainable economic growth. Low wages result in poorer services, higher staff turnover, increased absences from work and a lower quality of life for staff stuck in low pay. We have not only an opportunity, but a responsibility, to tackle poverty and eradicate the blight it puts on people’s lives once and for all. Addressing low pay will not put an end to hardship overnight, as it is only part of a much wider and more complex picture of social justice, but it is a start, and it should be our goal to achieve it.

Other countries are using this fund to support their steel industries. Here’s a giant pot of money into which Whitehall should dip its fingers. Please do. Jobs, communities and a vital industry should be supported.